Background

Born with lower limb disabilities, Tynan elected to have both legs amputated at the age of 20 due to complications caused by a car accident. Within weeks of the accident, he was climbing stairs at his college dormitory on artificial legs. Within a year, Tynan was winning in the international Paralympics. Between 1981 and 1984, he amassed eighteen gold medals and fourteen world records.

In the following years, Tynan became the first person with a disability ever to be admitted to the National College of Physical Education in Limerick. He worked for about two years in the prosthetics industry. Then he went on to Trinity College, became a physician specializing in Orthopedic Sports Injuries, and graduated in 1993.

Encouraged to also study voice by his father Edmund, Tynan won a series of prestigious voice competition awards and joined the Irish Tenors.